Systems and methods for adaptive content filtering

ABSTRACT

Technologies are disclosed herein for selecting one or more content instances of a plurality of content instances for display on a head unit of a vehicle. The content instances correspond to a location of a vehicle and are received by the head unit. The head unit obtains vehicle specific information from memory of the head unit. Based on the vehicle specific information, the head unit selects the one or more content instances using a set of criteria for determining which, if any, content instances to display. Selection of the one or more content instances using the set of criteria may involve consideration of information associated with individual instances of the plurality of content instances. The selected one or more content instances are displayed on a display of the head unit.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to selective presentation of content to auser of a vehicle.

Description of the Related Art

Some newer model vehicles are provided with a display unit, called ahead unit, with which a user can interact to monitor and control variousaspects of the vehicle. Using the head unit, users can controltemperature settings for the vehicle interior, access maps showing thevehicle's location, and control playback of audio content through thevehicle's audio system. Although some head units may be equipped todisplay media content, such as video or image content, privacy issueshave limited the scope of media content that the head units can display.For instance, a user of the head unit may wish to be alerted tolocations that may align with their interests or a sale at anotherdestination proximate to the vehicle. However, users of the head unitmay wish to protect personal information, vehicle information, orlocation information from being shared over a network with unauthorizedthird parties. In some jurisdictions, privacy laws may prohibit thesharing of such personal information with third parties. Until now, thisconflict between user privacy and convenience has limited users frombeing able to experience the potential advantages of content on headunits.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Briefly stated, embodiments are directed toward presenting contentinstances selected from among a plurality of content instances, such asvia a head unit, to a user of a vehicle based on information specific tothe vehicle. The plurality of content instances are transmitted by oneor more antennae in a target geographical area. This target geographicalarea may be defined by zip code, city, county, particular antennae, orother geographical boundaries. In various embodiments, the geographicalarea is limited or defined by which antennae are transmitting thecontent and the transmission range of the transmitting antennae. Theplurality of content instances, in at least some embodiments, includesvisual content, audio content, audiovisual content, or other informationrelated to locales within the target geographic area.

The head unit receives the plurality of content instances and evaluateswhich, if any, of the plurality of content instances to display based onthe vehicle specific information, which is stored in memory. The vehiclespecific information used to select the content instances to display mayinclude information regarding the vehicle itself, such as vehicle make,model, class, included features or options, or mileage. In someembodiments, the vehicle specific information may also includeinformation regarding users of the vehicle, such as informationregarding demographics or interests. The vehicle specific information isprotected in memory of the head unit or otherwise on the vehicle, suchthat the head unit and vehicle are prevented from transmitting thevehicle specific information to third parties. Advantageously, thisenables the head unit to provide targeted content to vehicle userswithout exposing the users' private information.

The head unit may utilize a set of criteria to determine which, if any,content instances to display in a target vehicle. The set of criteriamay analyze the vehicle specific information and target vehicleinformation associated with individual instances of the plurality ofcontent instances. As a result of determining a match or correspondencebetween the vehicle specific information and the target vehicleinformation, the head unit may cause the content instances associatedwith the vehicle target information to be displayed on the display ofthe head unit. Users of the vehicle may therefore be provided withuseful and pertinent content, such as content related to theirinterests, demographics, or vehicle characteristics, without providingpotentially sensitive or protected data to third parties.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a context diagram of a vehicle environment forselecting and presenting content on a head unit of the vehicle to a userin accordance with embodiments described herein;

FIG. 2 illustrates an environment in which a plurality of antennae eachrespectively transmits a plurality of content instances to transmissionregions in accordance with embodiments described herein;

FIG. 3 illustrates an environment in which a plurality of contentinstances are received and evaluated for display on the head unit inaccordance with embodiments described herein;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example environment in which the plurality ofcontent instances includes associated information in accordance withembodiments described herein;

FIG. 5 illustrates a use case example of storage content of the headunit in accordance with embodiments described herein;

FIG. 6 illustrates a use case example of content corresponding to theone or more selected content instances displayed on the display of ahead unit in accordance with embodiments described herein;

FIG. 7 illustrates a method for selecting and displaying one or morecontent instances of the plurality of content instances in accordancewith embodiments described herein;

FIG. 8 illustrates a method for selecting and displaying one or moresecond content instances of a second plurality of content instances inaccordance with embodiments described herein;

FIG. 9 illustrates a method for storing information regarding adestination of a vehicle as part of vehicle specific information inaccordance with embodiments described herein; and

FIG. 10 illustrates a method for storing user-specific input as part ofthe vehicle specific information in accordance with embodimentsdescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description, along with the accompanying drawings, setsforth certain specific details in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of various disclosed embodiments. However, one skilled inthe relevant art will recognize that the disclosed embodiments may bepracticed in various combinations, without one or more of these specificdetails, or with other methods, components, devices, materials, etc. Inother instances, well-known structures or components that are associatedwith the environment of the present disclosure, including but notlimited to the communication systems and networks and the vehicleenvironment, have not been shown or described in order to avoidunnecessarily obscuring descriptions of the embodiments. Additionally,the various embodiments may be methods, systems, media, or devices.Accordingly, the various embodiments may be entirely hardwareembodiments, entirely software embodiments, or embodiments combiningsoftware and hardware aspects.

Throughout the specification, claims, and drawings, the following termstake the meaning explicitly associated herein, unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise. The term “herein” refers to thespecification, claims, and drawings associated with the currentapplication. The phrases “in one embodiment,” “in another embodiment,”“in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” “in other embodiments,”and other variations thereof refer to one or more features, structures,functions, limitations, or characteristics of the present disclosure,and are not limited to the same or different embodiments unless thecontext clearly dictates otherwise. As used herein, the term “or” is aninclusive “or” operator and is equivalent to the phrases “A or B, orboth” or “A or B or C, or any combination thereof,” and lists withadditional elements are similarly treated. The term “based on” is notexclusive and allows for being based on additional features, functions,aspects, or limitations not described, unless the context clearlydictates otherwise. In addition, throughout the specification, themeaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” include singular and plural references.

References to the term “set” (e.g., “a set of items”), as used herein,unless otherwise noted or contradicted by context, is to be construed asa nonempty collection comprising one or more members or instances.

FIG. 1 illustrates a context diagram of a vehicle environment forselecting and presenting content on a head unit of the vehicle to a userin accordance with embodiments described herein. System 100 includes avehicle 102 and a plurality of mobile devices 114.

The mobile device 114 includes any device capable of communicating witheach other or a head unit 104 of the vehicle 102. The mobile device 114is structured to send and receive content and controls to and from thehead unit 104 or other mobile devices 114. Examples of mobile devices114 include, but are not limited to, laptop computers, smart phones,tablet computers, wearable computing devices, or other handheldcomputing devices.

The vehicle 102 is virtually any means of transportation that includes ahead unit 104. Thus, embodiments described herein may be employed inautomobiles, aerial vehicles, water vessels, railroad vehicles, andother modes of transportation that include a head unit.

The head unit 104 is a computing device in a vehicle that providesinteractive controls to a user or occupant of the vehicle. As usedherein, the terms user and occupant are interchangeable and refer to anyperson interacting with the head unit 104, the vehicle 102, or any ofthe mobile devices 114. The head unit 104 is utilized to control one ormore accessories 108 a-108 c or to receive information or data from oneor more accessories 108 a-108 c. The head unit 104 can display thereceived information or data, or it can provide it to other devices,such as one or more of mobile devices 114.

The accessories 108 a-108 c can include any vehicle utility or devicethat is controllable by the user. Examples of these accessories include,but are not limited to, adjustable seats, sun roof, side mirrors,rear-view mirror, air conditioner, power windows, or other controllablefeatures of the vehicle 102. Accessories 108 a-108 c also includevirtually any vehicle utility or device that provides information to theuser. Examples of these accessories include, but are not limited to,speedometer, odometer, oil pressure gauge, temperature gauge, or othervehicle sensor that provides information to a user of the vehicle.Accessories 108 a-108 c further include applications executing on thehead unit 104 that have two-way interaction with the user. Examples ofthese accessories include, but are not limited to, navigation, audio andradio controls, television or music applications, environmental controlapplications, vehicle performance or maintenance applications, or otherapplications. It should be noted that some accessories may only outputdata, some accessories may only receive controls to manipulate theaccessory, and some accessories may input and output data. For example,a speedometer may only output the current speed of the vehicle; a powerwindow may only receive controls to move the window up or down, but notreturn any information to the head unit; and the navigation system mayreceive controls for a destination and also return a suggested travelroute to the destination. It should be noted that these examples arenon-exhaustive and other types of accessories may also be employed.

The head unit 104 communicates with the accessories 108 a-108 c via anaccessory communication network 106. The accessory communication network106 is configured to couple the accessories 108 a-108 c with the headunit 104 to transmit content/data between the accessories 108 a-108 cand the head unit 104. The information communicated between devices mayinclude current accessory status or data, accessory control data, videodata, voice data, image data, text data, or other types of data orinformation. The accessory communication network 106 may include one ormore physical networks; one or more wireless communication networks; oneor more application program interfaces; or one or more other networkscapable of transmitting data from one accessory to another, from anaccessory to the head unit 104, or from the head unit to an accessory;or some combination thereof depending on the types of accessoriescommunicating with the head unit 104. For example, the accessorycommunication network 106 may include an automotive body network, suchas a wired controller area network, short range wireless communicationnetwork, such as personal area networks utilizing classic Bluetooth orBluetooth Low energy protocols, or any other type of network.

The head unit 104 communicates with the mobile device 114 via a mobiledevice communication network 120. The mobile device communicationnetwork 120 is configured to couple the mobile device 114 with the headunit 104 to transmit content/data between the mobile device 114 and thehead unit 104. The information communicated between devices may includecurrent accessory status or data, requests to access accessory data,requests to control or modify an accessory, video data, voice data,image data, text data, or other types of data or information. The mobiledevice communication network 120 may include a variety of short-rangewireless communication networks, such as personal area networksutilizing classic Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low energy protocols, an IRoptical network, or network 120, to enable communication between themobile device 114 and the head unit 104. In this arrangement, the mobiledevice 114 may exchange signals directly with the head unit 104 withoutthe assistance of a long-range wireless network. Because the mobiledevice 114 may communicate with other networks, such as cellular orWi-Fi networks, the mobile device 114 may serve as a connection point tothese networks for the head unit 104.

In other cases, the head unit 104 may be equipped with an embedded modemto enable the head unit 104 to exchange signals with these networkswithout requiring the assistance of the mobile device 114 to do so. Inthis example, however, the mobile device 114 may continue to be pairedwith the head unit 104 through the mobile device communication network120.

In various embodiments, the mobile device communication network 120 andthe accessory communication network 106 are separate communicationnetworks. It should be understood that in various embodiments, themobile device 114 cannot connect to and communicate directly with theaccessories 108 a-108 c. The head unit 104 acts as a gateway or bridgebetween the mobile device 114 and the accessories 108 a-108 c. In someembodiments, the head unit 104 provides various authentication andverification technologies for permitting or restricting the transfer ofaccessory data to the mobile device 114 or enabling the mobile device114 to control an accessory 108 a-108 c.

In one alternative, the head unit 104 is not a bridge between the mobiledevice 114 and the accessories 108 a-108 c but is just a permissionunit. There might be one network that connects the mobile device 114directly to an accessory 108 a-108 c, and the head unit 104 will grantpermission for communication to occur between the mobile device and theaccessory but is not in the communication itself. The head unit 104 canprovide various functions, including, but not limited to, connectionhandling, data binding, data broadcasting, data marshalling, or otherdata control techniques or functionality.

In some embodiments, the head unit 104 communicates with a remote server124 via a communication network 122. The remote server 124 may store ormaintain content instances. As described herein, in some embodiments,the information received by the head unit 104 may include a reference tothe content instances, such as a URL. Accordingly, the head unit 104 canrequest specific content instances from the remote server 124 viacommunication network 122, and the remote server 124 can respond withthe requested content instances.

FIG. 2 illustrates an environment 200 in which a plurality of antennae202 respectively transmit a plurality of content instances 204. Theplurality of content instances 204 are received by vehicles 102travelling in a corresponding transmission region 232. The vehicles 102are equipped with a head unit 104 of FIG. 1 that can present theplurality of content instances 204.

Each of the plurality of antennae 202 transmits a plurality of contentinstances 204 within a corresponding transmission region 232. Forinstance, a first antenna 202 a transmits a first plurality of contentinstances 204 a through 204 c within a first region 232 a, a secondantenna 202 b transmits a second plurality of content instances 204 dthrough 204 f within a second region 232 b, a third antenna 202 ctransmits a third plurality of content instances 204 g through 204 iwithin a third region 232 c, a fourth antenna 202 d transmits a fourthplurality of content instances 204 j through 204 l within a fourthregion 232 d, and so forth. As a result, a first vehicle 102 a locatedin the first transmission region 232 a can receive the first pluralityof content instances 204 a-c, which may be different than the secondplurality of content instances 204 d-f received by a second vehicle 102b located in the second transmission region 232 b.

Each of the content instances 204 includes or corresponds to contentthat may be different than the content of the other content instanceswithin the same transmission region and may be different than thecontent instances of other transmission regions. For instance, thecontent instance 204 a corresponds to content different from the contentinstances 204 b and 204 c within the first region 232 a, and the contentinstance 204 a corresponds to content different from the content ofcontent instances within another region 232.

A transmission region 232 for a first plurality of content instances 204may be different from a transmission region 232 for a second pluralityof content instances 204. For instance, the content instances 204 a-cmay be transmitted in a transmission region 232 a that has a largergeographic region than the geographic area of the transmission region232 d of the content instance 204 j-1. Although only a single antenna202 is depicted as transmitting a corresponding plurality of contentinstances 204 (i.e., each antenna 202 transmits separate contentinstances 204), a plurality of antennae 202 may also be used to transmita same plurality of content instances 204. A plurality of antennae 202a, for example, may transmit the plurality of content instances 204 a-cwithin a target geographic area 220, which may be defined by zip code,city, neighborhood, antenna select and transmission ranges, or the like,or some combination thereof.

The antennae 202 may be of varying types and power and may coverdifferent sizes of geographic regions. Individual antennas 202 may beconfigured to transmit to zip codes, neighborhoods, statistical areas(e.g., primary statistical areas, core based statistical areas,metropolitan statistical areas), etc. In some embodiments, a pluralityof smaller antennae 202, such as network routers or cellular routers,may be distributed throughout a geographic region to comprise atransmission region 232, such as illustrated by geographic area 220. Atransmission region 232 may include a plurality of different types ofantennae 202 transmitting the plurality of content instances 202.

At least some content instances 204 may correspond to locations 234within the respective transmission regions 232. The locations 234 may becommercial establishments that wish to promote awareness of theirexistence, location, or services or goods offered. A first contentinstance 204 a transmitted within the first region 232 a may correspondto a first location 234 a within the first region 232 a. As anotherexample, a second content instance 204 b may include contentrepresentative of a second location 234 b within the first region 232 a.Some individual content instances 204 may include content representativeof the corresponding location—for example, content representative of aname and/or specific geographic location (e.g., street address,coordinates) within the region 232. Some individual content instancesmay include content representative of the goods and/or services offeredat the location.

As a vehicle 102 transitions from one transmission region to anothertransmission region, the vehicle 102 begins receiving a differentplurality of content instances for that new transmission region. Forinstance, the first vehicle 102 a travelling in the first transmissionregion 232 a and that transitions to the third transmission region 232 cwill begin receiving the third plurality of content instances 204 g-iand stop receiving the first plurality of content instances 204 a-c. Thethird plurality of content instances 204 g-i received by the firstvehicle 102 a may include content corresponding to a seventh location234 g in the third transmission region 232 c, which was not transmittedin the first transmission region 232 a. Although each transmissionregion 232 of the environment 300 is separate from the othertransmission regions, parts of adjacent transmission regions may overlapin some embodiments. Furthermore, the head unit 104 of each vehicle 102may receive the plurality of content instances 204 without requestingthe plurality of content instances 204 and without transmitting anynotification regarding the location of the vehicle 102. As describedherein, the head units 104 of each vehicle 102 determine which, if any,of the content instances 204 to present based at least in part on targetvehicle information included in or associated with corresponding contentinstances 204.

As one example, the first vehicle 102 a travelling in the firsttransmission region 232 a receives the first plurality of contentinstances 204 a through 204 c transmitted by the first antenna 202 a.The head unit 104 of the first vehicle 102 a processes target vehicleinformation 205 (see FIG. 4) associated with each of the respectivefirst plurality of content instances 204 a-204 c to determine which, ifany, of the first plurality of content instances 204 a-204 c to displayon the head unit 104. The determination by the head unit 104 regardingwhich, if any, of the content instances 204 a-204 c to display is basedon vehicle specific information 212 (see FIG. 3) specific to the firstvehicle 102 a. As a result of, for example, determining a correspondencebetween the target vehicle information 205 a of a first content instance204 a and the vehicle specific information 212, content of the firstcontent instance 204 a is presented (e.g., displayed) on the head unit104. The content presented may be, for example, an advertisement for, oran icon representative of, a store located in or near the correspondingtransmission region.

The first vehicle 102 a may then exit the first transmission region 232a and enter the third transmission region 232 c, wherein the firstvehicle 102 a begins receiving the third plurality of content instances204 g through 204 i. The head unit 104 may cease to display the firstcontent instance 204 a and make a determination regarding which, if any,of the third plurality of content instances 204 g through 204 i topresent using target vehicle information 205 associated therewith. Inconnection with receiving and determining whether to present the contentinstances 204, the vehicle 102 or head unit 104 do not transmit thevehicle specific information 212 or other potentially sensitiveinformation regarding a user or the vehicle 102, or even send a requestfor the content instances 204. As a result, the privacy and thepotentially sensitive information of the user or the vehicle 102 ispreserved.

FIG. 3 illustrates an environment 300 in which a head unit of a vehiclereceives content and determines which content to present to a useraccording to one or more embodiments. The environment 300 includes oneor more transmission antennae 202 transmitting a plurality of contentinstances 204 over a network 206 to a head unit 104 of a vehicle 102.Each of the content instances 204 correspond to audio, image, or videocontent that, as a result of being processed, cause presentation ofcontent by the head unit 104. As one example, individual instances ofthe plurality of content instances 204 may include one or more video orimage data objects that cause presentation of video or image(s) on thedisplay 208 as a result of processing the data object(s). As anotherexample, the data objects may be links or references that, as a resultof being processed, cause the head unit 104 to access video or imagecontent in memory 210 of the head unit 104 or remotely access video orimage content via the network 206. As yet a further example, theplurality of content instances 204 may include one or more audio dataobjects that, as a result of being processed, cause an audio system ofor associated with the head unit 104 to emit corresponding audio.

The content may be displayed on the display 208 and may include vehiclemaintenance suggestions, advertisements, reminders, map locations, etc.,that are presented based at least in part on information specific to thevehicle 102. The memory 210 may include read-only memory (ROM) and/orrandom-access memory (RAM), and may comprise different types of memory,such as solid-state memory, hard disk drives, cache memory, and soforth. The plurality of content instances 204 may each include or haveassociated therewith target vehicle information 205 relating to thecontent of the respective content instances, as described herein.Individual content instances 204 may be received as an individual unitcomprising the target vehicle information 205 and content to bepresented. In some embodiments, individual content instances 204received may include, instead of the content itself, a link or areference to a storage location containing the content that is useableto retrieve the content. The storage location may be stored locally inthe memory 210 or in some other memory of the vehicle. However, thestorage location may be a storage location remote to the vehicle 102that is accessible via the communication interface 214 and the network206.

The plurality of content instances 204 may be transmitted to the vehicle102 over the network 206 without the head unit 104 or the vehicle 102previously requesting transmission of the plurality of content instances204 or previously providing vehicle specific information 212 regardingthe vehicle or users thereof to the content provider. That is, thetransmission of the plurality of content instances 204 by the antenna202 is not in response to a request to provide content instances and notin response to previous provisioning of vehicle specific information 212by the head unit 104. The antenna 202 may be electricallycommunicatively connected to a set of remote servers 124 that store andprovide the plurality of content instances 204 to the antenna 202 fortransmission. The plurality of content instances 204 may have anencoding or format that the head unit 104 is configured to decode,convert, or otherwise successfully process. The network 206 over whichthe plurality of content instances 204 is transmitted corresponds to oneor both of the mobile network 120 or communication network 122 describedabove with respect to FIG. 1.

The head unit 104 includes a communication interface 214 through whichthe plurality of content instances 204 are received. The communicationinterface 214 may include one or more antennae connected to one or morewireless network adapters, such as a cellular transceiver, Wi-Fitransceiver, Bluetooth 6 transceiver, or Zig Bee 6 transceiver. Thecommunication interface 214 may include one or more communication businterfaces for connecting to a communication bus of the vehicle 102 viaparallel interface, serial interface, or any common or proprietaryinterface for communication of data. The communication interface 214 maybe electrically communicatively coupled to one or more antennae of thevehicle 102 in some embodiments.

The head unit 104 includes one or more processors 216 that controloperation of the head unit 104. The one or more processors 216 includemicroprocessors, integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), and the like that, as a result of executing a set ofinstructions 218 stored in the memory 210, cause the processor(s) 216 toperform one or more operations disclosed herein. The processor 216causes the plurality of content instances 204 received via thecommunication interface 214 to be stored in the memory 210.

A set of criteria 220 is stored in the memory 210 for determining which,if any, of the plurality of content instances 204 should be presented onthe display 208. The set of criteria 220 defines criteria that theprocessor 216 may use to determine which, if any, of the plurality ofcontent instances 204 to present on the display 208. The set of criteria220 may include Boolean logic, conditions, and/or relationshipsinvolving content of the vehicle specific information 212 and content ofthe target vehicle information 205. The processor 216 may consider atleast some of the vehicle specific information 212 and the targetvehicle information 205 in view of the set of criteria 220 in connectionwith an evaluation of a content instance 204. For instance, theprocessor 216 may compare a subset of the vehicle specific information212 with a corresponding subset of the target vehicle information 205 aof a first content instance 204 a to determine whether to present thefirst content instance 204 a on the display 208. As a result ofdetermining that the vehicle specific information 212 and the targetvehicle information 205 a of the first content instance 204 a satisfiesone or more of the set of criteria 220, the processor 216 may cause thedisplay 208 to present the corresponding content. In some embodiments,the target vehicle information 205 may include criteria for evaluatingwhether to present the associated content instance.

The presentation criteria 220 may also include logic for determining anorder or ranking of content instances 204 that have target vehicleinformation 205 satisfying one or more of the presentation criteria 220or the target vehicle criteria 420 described below in comparison to thevehicle specific information 212. As explained above, the processor 216may determine a set of content instances 204 to be displayed by the headunit 104 based on the presentation criteria 220, vehicle specificinformation 212, and target vehicle information 205. The processor 216may then use the presentation criteria 220 to determine an order thatcontent instances 204 satisfying a threshold for presentation should bedisplayed. For example, the processor 216 may establish a queue in whichcontent instances 204 having a higher rate of correspondence (e.g.,number of matching criteria, degree of matching criteria) with thevehicle specific information 212 are scheduled to be played beforecontent instances 204 having a lower rate of correspondence. In at leastsome situations, more than one content instances 204 satisfying variouscriteria can be presented simultaneously—for example, one contentinstance may be presented on a navigation portion of the display 208 andanother content instance 204 may be presented in a video presentationportion of the display 208.

In some embodiments, individual ones of the plurality of contentinstances 204 may include policy content that may cause the head unit104 to perform one or more operations other than presentation ofaudio-visual content. The policy content may cause the head unit 104 tocollect certain vehicle specific information 212 or cause the head unit104 to communicate with other entities external to the vehicle 102. Insome instances, the policy content may cause the head unit 104 totransmit a subset of the vehicle specific information 212 to a server.

FIG. 4 illustrates an environment 400 in which an antenna 202 transmitsa plurality of content instances 204 respectively having target vehicleinformation 205. The target vehicle information 205 is a data object, orreference to a data object, having information content 402 a specifyingcharacteristics to be considered when evaluating whether to present thecontent instance 204 a associated therewith. The information content 402a may indicate characteristics or conditions that, if found in thevehicle specific information 212, may be favorable or adverse to adetermination regarding presentation of the associated content instance204 a.

As an illustrative example, this content instance 204 a may, forexample, be an advertisement for a coffee shop located in a particulartransmission region 232. The information content 402 a identifiescharacteristics or conditions that would favor presenting the contentinstance 204 a on the display 208. In this example, the informationcontent 402 a includes demographic characteristics 404 a specifyingpreferred characteristics of a user associated with the vehicle 102 thatwould weigh in favor of presenting the associated content instance 204 aas a result of such characteristics being found in the vehicle specificinformation. In particular, the demographic characteristics 404 aindicates that the head unit 104 should favor presentation of theassociated content instance 204 a as a result of identifying that thevehicle specific information 212 includes demographic informationindicating that a user is a female between the ages of 21 and 34. Thedemographic information may include characteristics regarding gender,age, race, income, education, nationality, etc., which may be identifiedby the user as described herein. As another example, the informationcontent 402 a includes vehicle class characteristics 406 a specifyingclass, type, make, model, etc., of a vehicle that would weigh in favorof presenting the associated content instance 204 a as a result of thevehicle specific information 212 including matching or similar vehiclecharacteristics.

The information content 402 a in this example includes contentcharacteristics 408 a indicative of a category of a location, service,or goods associated with the content instance 204 a. The informationcontent 402 a includes interest characteristics 410 a of correspondinginterests of a user, if identified in the vehicle specific information212, that would factor in a determination of whether to present thecontent instance 204 a. The information content 402 a further includesvehicle age characteristics 412 a specifying an age of the vehicle 102that would factor in a determination of whether to present the contentinstance 204 a. Another characteristic, vehicle hardware configurationcharacteristics 414 a indicating configurations, features, etc., of thevehicle 102 that might factor in a determination of whether to presentthe content instance 204 a. Here, the vehicle configuration might not bea consideration that factors into the presentation determination, so anentry for the vehicle hardware configuration characteristics 414 a isomitted. Current or recent conditions may also factor into thepresentation determination. The information content 402 a may thereforeinclude time characteristics 416 a indicating time ranges or periodsduring the day in which it may be more favorable to present the contentinstance 204 a.

The information content 402 of the target vehicle information 205 mayalso include type information 418 identifying a type of the associatedcontent instance 204. The type information 418 a of the target vehicleinformation 205 a indicates that the associated content instance 204 aincludes an advertisement and a location icon for displaying in anavigation portion of the display 208. The type information 418 may beuseful in identifying the importance, category, or use of the associatedcontent instance 204. Content instances 204 may include important safetyinformation for alerting or educating the user, such as a safety recallparticular to the make, model, and year of the vehicle 102. Such safetyinformation should have a relatively higher priority thanadvertisements, and the head unit 104 should therefore present suchsafety-related content before advertisements. Safety-related informationmay be associated with a geographical region. A safety-recall, forinstance, may be issued for airbags of vehicles 102 residing alongcoastlines due to the relatively more corrosive properties of salt inthe air. Other types of content instances 204 indicated in the typeinformation 418 include vehicle operation information for advising usersregarding operation of various features of the vehicle 102, vehiclemaintenance information for advising users on how and when to performmaintenance on the vehicle 102. Further description of such contentinstances 204 is described below with respect to FIG. 6.

These examples are illustrative and not intended to be limiting. Thoseof ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that these and othercharacteristics, conditions, and factors may be included in the targetvehicle information 205 without departing from the scope of the instantdisclosure. For example, the target vehicle information 205 may includeconditions related to the operation of a vehicle, like fuel level, oilpressure, radiator temperature, or battery voltage. In addition, thetypes of characteristics, conditions, or factors included in the targetvehicle information 205 may be periodically updated. Moreover, theinformation content 402 a may include factors, characteristics,conditions, etc., that are adverse or disqualifying to a determinationregarding presentation of the content instance 204 a. The informationcontent 402 a, in some instances, may be used to determine apresentation priority of one content instance relative to another—forexample, an order in which a plurality of content instances 204 selectedfor presentation should be presented.

The information content 402 a of the target vehicle information 205 amay be organized in any appropriate manner. The information content 402a may be formatted as a one-dimensional array, such as adelimiter-separated value format in which a delimiter (e.g., semi-colon,comma, tab) separates different characteristics and conditions of theinformation content 402 a. The information content 402 a may beformatted as a two-dimensional array or as a table having multiplecolumns and headings, as shown in FIG. 4. The information content 402 amay further include identifiers 419 indicating the characteristic,condition, or factor to which each entry of the information content 402a corresponds.

As a further example, another content instance 204N related to anoutdoor recreation store has target vehicle information 205N for use inmaking a determination for presentation of the content instance 204N.The target vehicle information 205N depicted includes at least someinformation content 402N through 418N, which may include characteristicsand/or conditions corresponding to those described above with respect tothe target vehicle information 205 a of the content instance 204 a.Because the content instance 204N is related to a different locationhaving goods or services different from the location related to thecontent instance 204 a, the relevant target vehicle information 205Nincludes characteristics and/or conditions different from thecharacteristics and/or conditions of the target vehicle information 205a.

The target vehicle information 205 may include or have associatedtherewith target vehicle criteria 420 for determining at least in partwhether to present the content instance 204. The target vehicle criteria420 may include Boolean logic, conditions, and/or relationshipsinvolving the information content 402. The target vehicle criteria 420may be instead of, in addition to, or in conjunction with the set ofpresentation criteria 220 discussed herein. The target vehicle criteria420 may indicate certain characteristics that, if found in the vehiclespecific information 212, cause the head unit 104 to determine that theassociated content instance 204 should be displayed on the display 208.For instance, the target vehicle criteria 420 may specify that theassociated content instance 204 should be presented if a match isidentified between the information content 402 and the vehicle specificinformation 212. A match can be an exact match or one that falls withinthe range of a confidence factor for a match. The target vehiclecriteria 420 may also include logic that can be used to determine apresentation priority of the associated content instance 204 relative toother content instances 204 to be presented. As a specific example, thetarget vehicle criteria 420 may specify that the associated contentinstance 204 should be displayed if the vehicle specific information 212has demographic information matching the demographic characteristics404, but should not be presented if the current time does not correspondto the time characteristics 416. As another example, the target vehiclecriteria 420 may specify a priority ranking for the associated contentinstance based on a number of matches or correspondences determinedbetween the target vehicle information 205 and the vehicle specificinformation 212.

FIG. 5 illustrates storage content 500 of the memory 210 of the headunit 104 according to one or more embodiments. The storage content 500includes the set of presentation criteria 220 and the vehicle specificinformation 212. As described herein, the set of presentation criteria220 defines conditions, Boolean logic, relationships, etc., involvingcontent of the vehicle specific information 212 and content of thetarget vehicle information 205. The set of presentation criteria 220 maybe logic preprogrammed and stored in the memory 210 as part of theinstructions 218 or as a separate set of instructions, logic, script, orobject code that causes the processor 216 to determine presentation of aplurality of content instances 204. In either case, the set ofpresentation criteria 220 may be periodically updated. The processor 216may successively evaluate the target vehicle information 205 of theplurality of content instances 204 and the vehicle specific information212 using the set of presentation criteria 220 to determine which, ifany, of the content instances 204 to present as a result. Furthermore,the set of presentation criteria 220 may cause the processor 216 toadjust the priority of content instances 204 relative to other contentinstances or to decline to present a content instance 204 that waspreviously marked for presentation. The set of presentation criteria 220may also specify operations to perform as a result of determining thatat least a part of the vehicle specific information 212 and at least apart of the target vehicle information 205 satisfy a criterion of theset of presentation criteria 220.

An example of how content instances 204 may be evaluated using thepresentation criteria 220 shown in FIG. 5 will now be described;however, this example is merely illustrative and not intended to limitthe scope of the instant disclosure. The presentation criteria 220include first criteria 502 involving demographics of a user. The firstcriteria 502 specifies that, as a result of determining that the userinformation 514 includes demographic information corresponding to ormatching target demographic information of the target vehicleinformation 205, the head unit 104 should cause the content instance 204of the target vehicle information 205 to be presented on the displaynext. The presentation criteria 220 also include second criteria 504involving the vehicle class of the vehicle 102. The second criteria 504specifies that, as a result of determining that vehicle information 516regarding the vehicle 102 specifies a vehicle class corresponding to ormatching a vehicle class specified in the target vehicle information205, the head unit 104 should add the content instance 204 of the targetvehicle information 205 to a queue of content instances 204 marked forpresentation. The presentation criteria 220 also include third criteria506 involving interests of a user. The third criteria 506 specifies thata priority of a content instance 204 should be incremented relative toother content instances 204 if a category of the content instance 204matches an interest of the user, as indicated in the user information514. In another example, the comparison of the target vehicleinformation 205 with the vehicle specific information 212 should resultin multiple matches in relation to multiple presentation criteria 220before a content instance 204 is presented via the head unit 104.

The set of presentation criteria 220 may include criteria involvingtime, date, vehicle location, and vehicle operation events, by way ofnon-limiting example. Fourth criteria 508 may involve a current timerelative to a time range specified in the target vehicle information205. For instance, the fourth criteria 508 specify that a contentinstance 204 should not be presented if the current time is not within atime range specified in the target vehicle information 205. Criteriainvolving time may also involve a calendar date, season, or day of theweek. Fifth criteria 510 specify that, as a result of a vehicleoperation event occurring at a specific location, a content instance 204should be presented now. For instance, if the vehicle is turned off at agrocery store, the head unit 104 may display a content instance 204reminding the user to take their reusable grocery bags or to not leaveany children behind. Sixth criteria 512 may specify that, as a result ofa vehicle hardware configuration specified in the vehicle information516 corresponding to or matching a vehicle hardware configurationspecified in the target vehicle information 205, an operation should beperformed involving a corresponding content instance of the plurality ofcontent instances 204 received.

The user information 514 comprises one or more data objects storing dataregarding a user or collection of users of the vehicle 102. The userinformation 514 may comprise demographic information (e.g., age, gender,race); information regarding interests of the user; location informationassociated with a user, such as work, home, or school addresses;professional and education information. The user information 514 mayinclude destination information regarding previous destinations of theuser. A user may provide the user information 514 by entering theinformation as user input to a touchscreen display 208 of the head unit104, which may then store the entered user input as user information514. Alternatively, the user information 514 may be obtained by the headunit 104 via the accessory communication network 106. For instance, auser may connect (e.g., pair) his mobile device 114 with the head unit104 through the communication interface 214 of the head unit 104 (orcommunication interface of the vehicle 102). The user may authorizeestablishment of a private connection with the head unit 104 and enteruser information 514 via an application on the mobile device 114. Theuser may alternatively authorize the head unit 104 to automaticallyaccess content from applications on the mobile device 114 to obtain atleast some of the user information 514. The head unit 104 may store theuser information 514 in a protected manner such that the head unit 104does not transmit the user information 514 or provide or allow otherhardware or software external to the head unit 104 access to the userinformation 514 without authorization from the user. As a result, theuser information 514 is protected and the privacy of the user is notcompromised via the head unit 104.

The vehicle information 516 comprises one or more data objects storingdata regarding the vehicle 102. Some of the vehicle information 516,such as the class, make, and model, may be static information. Some ofthe vehicle information 516 may be dynamic information that is updatedor changed, such as fuel level or battery voltage. Vehicle information516 representative of the mileage or the age of the vehicle 102 may beupdated based on use or on a periodic basis. Some of the vehicleinformation 516 may be updated as a result of certain events. Forinstance, the head unit 104 may interface with the vehicle 102 through auser interface and update the last service date as a result ofcorresponding events received over a communication bus of the vehicle102. As another example, the head unit 104 may receive instructions tonavigate the user to a particular destination via a global positioningsystem (GPS) receiver of the head unit 104 and may update the vehicleinformation 516 to include information representative of the particulardestination. Alternatively, the head unit 104 may obtain, uponauthorization by the user to do so, destination information from anavigation application on a mobile device 114 of the user and update thevehicle information 516 based on the destination information obtained.

In some embodiments, the head unit 104 may determine or identifyinterests of a user or group of users based on the destinationinformation obtained, which may then be used in connection with the setof presentation criteria 220 for evaluation of content instances 204.The head unit 104 may store the vehicle information 516 in a protectedmanner such that the head unit 104 does not transmit the vehicleinformation 516 or provide or allow other hardware or software externalto the head unit 104 access to the vehicle information 516 withoutauthorization from the user. As a result, the vehicle information 516 isprotected and the privacy of the user is not compromised via the headunit 104.

The head unit 104 may determine which content instances 204 to presentbased on use of the vehicle 102. The head unit 104 may modify thevehicle specific information 212 based on how the vehicle is used, suchas whether the vehicle is primarily used in urban, suburban, or ruralsettings. The processor 216 may track a location of the vehicle overtime using GPS information and determine use characteristics of thevehicle or a specific user based on the tracked location. If, forexample, a user uses the vehicle 102 in primarily suburban settings, theprocessor 216 may update the vehicle specific information 212 to containinformation indicating primarily suburban use of the vehicle. The headunit 104 may also track use of the vehicle by destination to determinehow the vehicle 102 is used. The head unit 104 may determine that thevehicle 102 is used primarily as a family car as a result of trackingthat the vehicle 102 is driven between home and a school during theweek. As another non-limiting example, the head unit 104 may determinethat the vehicle 102 is a daily driver as a result of tracking thevehicle 102 between home and work during the week. Use of the vehiclemay be reflected in the user information 514 and/or the vehicleinformation 516.

Modifying the vehicle specific information 212 according to vehicle useenables the head unit 104 to improve targeting of content to the user(s)of the vehicle. The vehicle specific information 212, for instance,indicates that the vehicle is a sport utility vehicle with an off-roadpackage. Based on this information alone, the head unit 104 may providecontent instances 204 directed toward outdoor recreation. However, as aresult of tracking specific use of the vehicle 102 based on vehiclelocation and destination tracking, the head unit 104 may determine thatthe vehicle 102 is actually used as a family car and provide contentappropriate to such use. By contrast, the head unit 104 may identify avehicle 102 frequently used to travel in mountainous terrain as havingoff-road or rural use. Vehicle use may be correlated according to timeand date such that use of the vehicle 102 may be tagged as having oneuse characteristic during the week and another use characteristic duringthe weekends, as one example. The vehicle specific information 212 mayinclude more than one vehicle use characteristic.

Some content instances 204 may include policy content that causes thehead unit 104 to collect and store information as vehicle specificinformation 212. For instance, the policy content may includeinstructions for collecting certain vehicle operation informationregarding operation of the vehicle 102. The vehicle operationinformation may be obtained from one or more accessories 108 a-108 c oranother system of the vehicle 102, such as from an electronic controlunit of the vehicle. The vehicle operation information may be indicativeof conditions or events associated with operation of the vehicle 102,such as speed, efficiency, and hazardous conditions. The head unit 104of the vehicle 102 may adjust presentation of audio-visual content ofthe plurality of content instances 204 based on this vehicle operationinformation. For example, if the vehicle operation information indicatesmultiple wheel slippage or a high rate of velocity, then the head unit104 may pause or reduce the presentation of content to the user of thevehicle 102 so as to reduce distractions while the wheel slippage isoccurring or the vehicle is over a certain speed.

In some embodiments, the policy information causes the head unit 104 tocommunicate with entities external to the vehicle 102. As one example, afirst vehicle may be in communication with a second vehicle via avehicle-to-vehicle communication channel. In some embodiments, the headunit 104 transmits, or causes transmission of, vehicle specificinformation 212 to the remote server 124, which may perform one or moreoperations in response. As an example, the head unit 104 may transmit,over the network 206, information indicative of traffic or hazardousroad conditions. In response, the server 124 may generate informationindicative of hazardous driving or traffic congestion conditions andsend content to vehicles 102 indicating the conditions. The head unit104 may determine whether to implement policy content based on criteriaincluded in or associated with the policy information or based on thepresentation criteria 220.

FIG. 6 illustrates the display 208 of the head unit 104 displaying a setof content instances 204 according to one or more implementations. Thedisplay 208 shown in FIG. 6 includes a navigation portion 602, a visualcontent presentation portion 604, and a control portion 606. Thenavigation portion 602 displays a vehicle icon 608 representative of acurrent location of the vehicle 102 relative to a map 610 based onreceived GPS information. The navigation portion 602 includes adestination icon 612 corresponding to a destination to which the headunit 104 may be set to navigate. The visual content presentation portion604 presents visual content 605 corresponding to a content instance 204selected by the head unit 104 for presentation, as discussed herein.Using the control portion 606, a user may navigate through various menusof the head unit 104 to control and monitor various aspects of thevehicle 102 and/or the head unit 104, such as audio system playback,mobile device connections, environmental controls, and the like. Usingthe control portion 606, the user may also provide user input regardingthe visual content of the selected content instances 204 displayed onthe display 208.

The navigation portion 602 may also display visual content 614corresponding to the content instances 204 selected by the head unit104. The visual content 614 displayed in the navigation portion 602 mayinclude icons illustrative of goods or services offered at thecorresponding location. For instance, first visual content 614 a of thenavigation portion 602 is a donut icon that may correspond to a bakeryand a second visual content 614 b is a cup of coffee that may correspondto a coffee shop. Some visual content displayed, such as a third visualcontent 614 c, may be icons unrepresentative of the goods or servicesoffered at the corresponding location. The visual content in someportions may be linked to visual content in other portions. The visualcontent 605 in the visual content presentation portion 604, for example,is associated with the third visual content 614 c. In particular, thevisual content 605 may include video, animation, or images that depictgoods or services offered at the corresponding location on the map 610in greater detail than is possible with an icon. The video content 605may include or have associated therewith audio data that, as a result ofprocessing, causes the head unit 104 to generate audio in connectionwith presentation of the video or image content. In some embodiments,content instances received may be audio data that causes the head unit104 to emit sound, such as a chime, sound, or short song associated witha store or other location. As another example, head unit 104 may beconfigured to cause one or more other components to provide a hapticfeedback as part of the presentation, such as a vibration to be sensedthrough the steering wheel or the mobile device 114.

Display of the visual content 605 may be activated, in some instances,as a result of user input with the third visual content 614 c. The headunit 104 may, in response to user input interacting with visual contentpresented, modify the user information 514 to reflect an interest in acategory or particular location. The head unit 104 may also track userinterests via interaction with the control portion 606 and modify theuser information 514 accordingly. The head unit 104 may also causeoutput of audio content in connection with visual content presented onthe display 208. In some embodiments, the head unit 104 may cause mobiledevice 114 to present selected content instances 204 instead of, oralong with, the display 208. For example, the head unit 104 may transmita selected content instance 204 to a mobile device 114 having anestablished private or secure connection with the head unit 104, causingthe mobile device 114 to present corresponding visual, audio, or hapticcontent.

The head unit 104 may display various content related to safety,maintenance, or operation of the vehicle 102. Such display may be, atleast in some instances, based on the vehicle specific information 212.In response to detecting a flat tire, for instance, a vehicle 102 havingvehicle specific information 212 indicating that the vehicle 102 isprimarily for family use may display a content instance indicatingcontact information of the nearest roadside assistance whereas a vehicle102 having vehicle specific information 212 indicating that the vehicle102 is primarily for off-road use may display directions for changingthe flat tire. The head unit 104 may instead provide a menu displayingoptions for addressing the flat tire that the user can interact with toselectively obtain directions for changing the tire, contacting roadsideassistance, etc. The head unit 104 may display safety-related contentinstances 204 indicating a safety-related issue with the vehicle 102 anddisplaying nearby vehicle shops for addressing the safety-related issue.In such situations, content instances regarding safety-notices, recalls,failure risks, etc., may be previously received and presented by thehead unit 104 at a later time. Content instances may include owner'smanual information instructing the user on how to install a car seat,operate environmental controls, etc., which may be accessedautomatically or manually via the display 208.

In another arrangement, the vehicle 102 may be equipped with systemsthat can predict the imminent or eventual failure of a component of thevehicle 102. This data can be fed to the processor 116 of the head unit104 and may be integrated as part of the vehicle specific information212. For example, the standing voltage of the battery of the vehicle 102may be measured consistently below a predetermined threshold, indicatingthe battery may eventually fail to start the vehicle 102. During thecomparison of the target vehicle information 205 with the vehiclespecific information 212, the processor 116, in conjunction with thepresentation criteria, may determine that a content instance 204 relatedto an automotive-service facility should be presented on the head unit104, with possibly a warning to the driver of the impending batteryfailure.

The head unit 104 may discontinue the display of some content as aresult of transitioning from one geographic region to another. As shownin FIG. 6, while in a first geographic region 616, the head unit 104 maydisplay content corresponding to the first geographic region 616, suchas the first content 614 a. As a result of travelling from the firstgeographic region 616 into a second geographic region 618, the head unit104 may discontinue displaying the content of the first geographicregion 616 and begin displaying content of the second geographic region618, such as the second and third content 614 b and 614 c. The firstgeographic region 616 may be separated from the second geographic region618 by a boundary 620. The boundary 620 may be representative of atransmission region of one or more antennae located in the respectiveregions, representative of a physical boundary (e.g., river, lake,canyon), representative of an imaginary boundary (e.g., state line,county line) or representative of any other parameter. For instance, asa result of no longer receiving transmissions from an antenna 202 in thefirst geographic region 616, the head unit 104 may discontinuedisplaying content corresponding to the first geographic region 616.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method 700 of operating the head unit 104 accordingto one or more embodiments described herein. The method 700 begins byreceiving 702 a plurality of content instances 204 corresponding to acurrent location of the vehicle 102 in which the head unit 104 isinstalled. The plurality of content instances 204 are received 702 overthe network 206 without the head unit 104 previously requestingprovisioning of the plurality of content instances 204. In someembodiments, the plurality of content instances 204 are received 702 inresponse to the head unit 104 providing location information regarding acurrent location of the vehicle 102. In other embodiments, the pluralityof content instances 204 are received 702 without the head unit 104providing location information regarding the current location of thevehicle 102. The plurality of content instances 204 may be received 702as a result of the vehicle 102 being in a particular region 232associated with the plurality of content instances 204.

At 704, the method 700 includes obtaining, from the memory 210, thevehicle specific information 212, which may include the user information514 and the vehicle information 516, as described above with respect toFIG. 5, for instance. At 706, the method 700 includes obtaining a set ofcriteria for determining which, if any, of the plurality of contentinstances 204 should be presented on the display 208. Obtaining 706 theset of criteria includes obtaining, from the memory 210, the set ofpresentation criteria 220. In some embodiments, at least some of the setof criteria may be obtained from the target vehicle information 205received in connection with the plurality of content instance 204.

At 708, the method 700 may include selecting one or more contentinstances of the plurality of content instances 204 using the set ofpresentation criteria 220. Selecting 708 the one or more contentinstances may be based at least in part on an evaluation involving thevehicle specific information 212 and associated information of theplurality of content instances 204, as described in further detail withrespect to FIG. 9 and elsewhere herein. As a result of selecting 708 theone or more content instances, the method 700 includes displaying 710,or otherwise causing the display of, the one or more selected contentinstance on the display 208.

FIG. 8 shows a method 800 for selecting one or more second contentinstances of a second plurality of content instances 204 according toone or more embodiments. The method 800 is a continuation of the method700 and may proceed from any one of steps 702 through 710 discussed withrespect to FIG. 7. The method 800 proceeds by receiving 802 a secondplurality of content instances different from the plurality of contentinstances of the method 700. The second plurality of content instancesmay be received 802 as a result of the vehicle 102 changing locationsfrom one transmission region to another transmission region. Forexample, with reference to FIG. 3, the head unit 104 of the vehicle 102a may receive a first plurality of content instances corresponding tothe content instances 204 a-c in the first transmission region 232 a.Then, the vehicle 102 a may be driven to the third transmission region232 c in which the head unit 104 receives a second plurality of contentinstances corresponding to the content instances 204 g-i in the thirdtransmission region 232 c.

At 804, the method 800 includes selecting 804 one or more second contentinstances of the second plurality of content instances. Selecting 804one or more second content instances is performed according tooperations described with respect to FIG. 7 and elsewhere herein. At806, the head unit 104 causes the one or more second content instancesselected to be displayed on the display 208.

FIG. 9 shows a method 900 of storing information regarding a destinationof a vehicle as part of the vehicle specific information 212 accordingto one or more embodiments. The method 900 may be performed inconnection with or as part of the method 700 or the method 800. Themethod 900 begins by identifying 902 a destination of the vehicle 102.Identifying 902 the destination may include receiving informationentered into a navigation system of the head unit 104. Identifying thedestination may include receiving GPS information indicating a currentposition of the vehicle in connection with receiving a signal from thevehicle 102 indicating the occurrence of a vehicle operation event of adefined set of vehicle operation events. Such defined events may includethe vehicle 102 turning off or a passenger car door opening while thevehicle 102 is stopped.

At 904 of the method 900, the head unit 104 generates informationcorresponding to the destination. Such information may includeinformation regarding a category or type of the destination, orinformation regarding interests associated with the destination. If thevehicle 102 stops at a yoga studio, for example, the head unit 104 maygenerate interest information indicating that a user of the vehicle 102is interested in fitness, yoga, health, etc. The head unit 104 may thenstore 906 the information generated in 904 as part of the vehiclespecific information 212. The interest information regarding userinterest in fitness, yoga, and/or health may be stored as part of theuser information 514. Consequently, when the head unit 104 is selectingone or more content instances, the interest information stored based ona previous destination of the vehicle 102 may be considered as part ofthe selection.

FIG. 10 illustrates a method 1000 for storing user-specific input aspart of the vehicle specific information 212 according to one or moreembodiments. The method 1000 may optionally begin by establishing 1002 aprivate connection between the head unit 104 and a processor-baseddevice of the user, such as the mobile device 114. The privateconnection is a wired or wireless connection established directlybetween the head unit 104 and the mobile device 114 as a result of auser input to do so. The head unit 104 may then obtain 1004 inputincluding information regarding the user, such as demographicinformation, from the processor-based device. Such information may beobtained as a result of the user providing user input to a mobileapplication, of the processor-based device, for interfacing with thehead unit 104, wherein the mobile application causes the user input tobe securely transmitted to the head unit 104. As another example, theuser-specific input may be obtained from one or more third partyapplications of the mobile device 114 and transmitted to the head unit104 as a result of the user providing authorization and input to do so.One or both of obtaining 1004 and receiving 1006 user input may beperformed as part of the method 1000. At 1008, the head unit 104 storesthe user input obtained 1004 and/or received 1006 as part of the userinformation 514, included in the vehicle specific information 212.

Each of the methods 700, 800, 900 is not limited to its correspondingchronological order presented here. Moreover, each method 700, 800, 900may include additional or even fewer steps than those illustrated in theassociated figures.

Other configurations or examples may apply to the subject matterdescribed herein. For example, the content instances 204 may bedelivered to the vehicle 102 through a hard-wired connection, which maybe present when the vehicle 102 is undergoing repairs or is beingrefueled or charged. In addition, the content instances 204 may bestreamed to the head unit 104, as opposed to being stored in the memory210, and presented as part of an existing source of streamed content(like music) or independent of any other content. Moreover, data relatedto the user's interactions with content instances 204 that are presentedmay be collected and delivered to a remote facility. In such a case, theremote facility may include servers loaded with machine learning (ML)models, which may be trained using the collected data. These ML modelsmay then be used to adjust the content, delivery, or presentation of thecontent instances 204 or modify the process of comparing the targetvehicle information 205 with the vehicle specific information 212.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. These and other changes can be made to theembodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, inthe following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limitthe claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specificationand the claims but should be construed to include all possibleembodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which suchclaims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by thedisclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A head unit of a vehicle, comprising: adisplay device that is configured to display content; a memory that isconfigured to store computer instructions and information specific tothe vehicle; and one or more processors that are configured to executethe computer instructions to: receive, while the vehicle is in a firstgeographic area, a first plurality of separate content instancescorresponding to the first geographic area without a previoustransmission of a request for the first plurality of separate contentinstances, wherein each separate content instance includes content todisplay via the display device and corresponding target vehicleinformation; obtain, from the memory, the information specific to thevehicle; select a first content instance from the plurality of separatecontent instances based on a comparison between the information specificto the vehicle and the target vehicle information of each of the firstplurality of separate content instances; display the content associatedwith the first content instance on the display device; receive a secondplurality of separate content instances as a result of the vehicle beinglocated in a second geographic area different from the first geographicarea; select a second content instance from the second plurality ofseparate content instances based on a comparison between the informationspecific to the vehicle and the target vehicle information of each ofthe second plurality of separate content instances; and display thecontent associated with the second content instance on the displaydevice subsequent to discontinuing display of the content associatedwith the first content instance.
 2. The head unit of claim 1, whereinthe one or more processors are configured to execute further computerinstructions to: select the first content instance based on a set ofcriteria for evaluating display of content in a target vehicle.
 3. Thehead unit of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configuredto execute further computer instructions to: provide, over a network toa remote server, location information representative of the currentlocation of the vehicle; and receive the first plurality of separatecontent instances in response to providing the location information. 4.The head unit of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors areconfigured to execute further computer instructions to: determine a setof candidate content instances of the first plurality of separatecontent instances based on a set of criteria for determining content todisplay in a target vehicle; and select the first content instance fromamong the set of candidate content instances based on the set ofcriteria.
 5. The head unit of claim 1, wherein the information specificto the vehicle includes two or more of information indicative of a classof the vehicle, information indicative of a mileage of the vehicle,information indicative of a model of the vehicle, information indicativeof a use of the vehicle, and information representative of a hardwareconfiguration of the vehicle.
 6. The head unit of claim 1, wherein theone or more processors are configured to execute further computerinstructions to: select a subset of the first plurality of separatecontent instances based on the information specific to the vehicle; anddetermine an order in which the subset of content instances are to bedisplayed on the display device based on a set of criteria fordetermining content to display in a target vehicle.
 7. The head unit ofclaim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute further computerinstructions to: receive information specifying a set of criteriaassociated with individual content instances of the first plurality ofseparate content instances, and select the first content instances fromthe first plurality of separate content instances based on whether theinformation specific to the vehicle satisfies one or more of the set ofcriteria.
 8. The head unit of claim 1, wherein the processor isconfigured to execute further computer instructions to: receive a signalfrom the vehicle indicative of a vehicle operation event; and select thefirst content instance from the plurality of separate content instancesbased at least on the signal received.
 9. A computer-implemented method,comprising: receiving, by a head unit of a vehicle and over a network, aplurality of content objects corresponding to a geographic region of thevehicle without previously transmitting a request for the plurality ofcontent objects; obtaining, by the head unit and from a memory on thevehicle, information specific to the vehicle; selecting, by the headunit, a content object from the plurality of content objects based onthe information specific to the vehicle and a set of criteria fordetermining content to display; and causing, by the head unit, an outputdevice to present the selected content object.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising: identifyinga destination of the vehicle; generating destination informationcorresponding to the destination; and storing the destinationinformation as part of the information specific to the vehicle.
 11. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the destinationinformation includes information regarding an interest of a user of thevehicle, and selecting the content object from the plurality of contentobjects based on a determination that the interest of the usercorresponds to interest information associated with the selected contentobject.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein thedestination information includes information regarding a category of thedestination, and selecting the content object is based on adetermination that content category information associated with theselected content object corresponds to the category of the destination.13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein identifying thedestination of the vehicle is in response to a vehicle operation event.14. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:receiving vehicle use information indicating usage characteristics ofthe vehicle; and modifying the information specific to the vehicle basedon the vehicle use information.
 15. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 9, wherein the selecting of the content object from the pluralityof content objects includes: selecting a content item relating to safetybased on the information specific to the vehicle and the geographicregion of the vehicle.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 9,wherein the selecting of the content object from the plurality ofcontent objects includes: selecting a content item including vehiclemaintenance content based on the information specific to the vehicle.17. A display system of a vehicle, comprising: a display device thatdisplays content; a memory that is configured to store computerinstructions and information specific to the vehicle; and one or moreprocessors that are configured to execute the computer instructions to:receive, over a network, information representative of each of aplurality of content items corresponding to a geographic region in whichthe vehicle is currently located; receive user input specifyinginformation specific to a user associated with the vehicle; store theinformation specific to the user as part of the information specific tothe vehicle with restrictions that prevent the display system fromtransmitting the information specific to the user over the network;obtain, from the memory, the information specific to the vehicle,including the information specific to the user; select, based on theinformation specific to the vehicle, a content item from the pluralityof content items; and cause the selected content item to be displayed onthe display device.
 18. The display system of claim 17, furthercomprising: a communication interface, wherein the one or moreprocessors are configured to execute further computer instructions toreceive the information specific to the user from a processor-baseddevice associated with the user via a user-authorized connection betweenthe processor-based device and the communication interface.
 19. Thedisplay system of claim 17, wherein the one or more processors areconfigured to execute further computer instructions to: access thecontent item from a remote server using the information representativeof the selected content item.